rating:
(out of
4 stars)United States; 2006
Directed by Peyton Reed; produced by Scott Stuber, Vince Vaughn; screenplay by Jeremy Garelick, Jay Lavender
Starring Jennifer Aniston, Vince Vaughn, Joey Lauren Adams, Cole Hauser, Jon Favreau, Jason Bateman, John Michael Higgins, Vincent D'Onofrio
Below you will find a temporary review for this film. The real (better, more complete) review will be online very soon.
Vince Vaughn and Jennifer Aniston star in this romantic comedy which is not
at all romantic and not very funny either. Their characters are in a
break-up that neither of them wants, although I do not understand why that
is. Gary is a terrible man, doing only what he wants to do, not wanting a
relationship in my opinion, and Aniston should never want that guy in the
first place. This becomes a little funny from time to time, but not as funny
the movie thinks. Both characters have taken their own space in the house
they used to share, both try to make the other jealous in ridiculous ways,
and from time to time they have to attend things as a couple, which of
course is not quite possible when you are in the middle of a break-up. At
least not in movies that pretend to be comedies.
Now I said there were some funny moments and they are really there, but not
at times the movie is trying so desperately to get a laugh. Vaughn is good
when it comes to fast talking, he has proved that many times before, but
here it is only fun to see him doing it; what he says is not that funny.
That he is mean delivers some smiles, but than the scenes go over the top.
'The Break-Up' finds clichés from real life and turns them into predictable
clichéd scenes and I never believed a second. By the time there is chemistry
we are in the final scenes and I did not care for the slightest bit. In
fact, the only character I cared for was one of Gary's brothers, played by
Vincent D'Onofrio. He should have been in a family drama as a character, but
both the character and the acting did it for me. Too bad he only shows
himself for five minutes. As for the other side characters, we are left with
Joey Lauren Adams, Jon Favreau, John Michael Higgins, Judy Davis and Jason
Bateman all with their own useless, plot-driven advise.